Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Minnesota

Re: re-marrage and no will

Complicated question. I would have to look at the statute to be sure, and I'm not doing that to answer one of these.

Off the top of my head, this is how I remember it. Without a will the spouse gets certain allowances. That includes most of the furniture and one car. If there's a house that's not already joint, the spouse gets a life estate in the homestead.

Everything else goes one third to the spouse, and two thirds to the kids, unless there's only one child in which case it goes one half to the spouse and one third to the child.

Wills are cheap. Why would you want to be without one? The situation created by the statute is almost certainly inconvenient and weird for your situation, and you can taylor make what you want with a will.

One more thing. Besides controlling what happens when you die with a will, you can control what happens in the event of divorce with an antenuptial agreement. If you have children and assets from your prior life, don't go to the altar without one.

Good luck.

Re: re-marrage and no will

Thank you for your question. If you re-marry and die intestate

(without a will), your spouse has statutory rights to your estate.

These include rights to your homestead, personal property,

maintenance, and to the remainder of your assets. If you have any

questions, please contact Luke Robinson at Chesley, Kroon,

Chambers, Harvey and Carpenter. (507) 625-3000.